Has any one else noticed that the New Zealand Law society appears to be at the centre of every thing in New Zealand .
It has more power than government as its members are the advisers to government and local bodies and the judges are selected from the membership by another member or former member. In the last government Christopher Francis Finlayson QC member of the NZ law society and Attorney-General selected fellow members to be judges. His recommendations was accepted by the governor_general
In all over the years he appointed the majority of our judges this from Kiwi’s first
this from the Courts of New Zealand web page
it goes on to say that “Judges have been appointed whose career paths have not been those of the conventional court advocate.”
and ” The appointment process followed by the Attorney-General is not prescribed by any statute or regulation.”
Many years ago I heard a presentation by Anthony Molloy QC who hit the nail on the head when he said ” nothing is going to change until one day a judge, while playing golf is hit on the head by a golf ball. Requiring urgent brain surgery he arrives in theatre to find that there are no brain surgeons available , but the staff reassure him that the surgeon a highly qualified and respected Gynecologist . They are all doctors after all.”
A list of judges of the high court is shown here all those appointed after 2008 were recommended by Finlayson 30 out of a total of 39 justices
Of the 7 associate judges four were recommended by Finlayson.
Appointment of judges in the UK
the head of the court is of course the Queen it is her court , in days of old the king/queen would be the ultimate decision maker and was advised by the knights templar and secular . Below crown was the privy council , the crowns closest advisors and this has over the years become this highest appellate court , but New zealand did away with this and the question therfor eis are they still the queens court ehan the queen and her advisors have no role to play.
They effectively did away with the system that we still hold on to . A system which lacks transparency and independence.
The New Zealand Law society
A judge has to have held a practicing certificate for at least 7 years and generally those appointed to the bench leave the law society to take on their position and if they leave the bench they will again become a member of the law society .
The New Zealand Law society has the conflicting roles of regulatory and nurturing for barristers and solicitors alike .
In the UK these duties are split between a regulatory authority such as the solicitors regulatory authority for regulatory matters and the law society for support assistance and nurturing of the lawyers who are solicitors. The lawyers who are Barristers belong to a bar council or one of the four inns of court and are regulated by the bar standards Board
why do we think The New Zealand justice system is open to corruption? well this is a serial you will have to drop back and read our stories of the lack of transparency and the vast disparity between the ways lawyers are treated and how others are treated
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